Re: New Tab Behavior and Close Other Tabs

["Martin Grondin" <martin grondin gmail com>]

On 6/1/07, Michael M. <mcubed slashmail org> wrote:

Do you mind me asking:  why do you want to open a new tab?

I'm just curious, because the only time I want to open a new tab
explicitly is when I *want* to go to my homepage (which, for me, is
iGoogle).  So a simple Ctrl+T takes me there.

Anytime I want to go to a different website in a new tab while keeping
the current website in the current tab, or search one of my predefined
search engines, I use deskbar-applet (Alt+F3 <enter term(s)>), and the
new tab opens with the result I'm looking for.  (I have Epiphany
configured in my GNOME settings to open a new tab in an existing browser
window by default, rather than a new browser window.)  Deskbar-applet
can pull from your regular bookmarks and your smart bookmarks, as well
as search your delicious tags.  You can set up keyword searches with
smart bookmarks, like in Firefox.  So for example, I'm reading a web
page about "abcde" and I want to search Google for more information, I
do <Alt+F3> gg abcde <enter>, and the search results open in a new tab;
or wiki abcde to search Wikipedia, or imdb abcde to search the Internet
Movie Database.  Or if I'm reading a web site and I want to open another
web site I know I have bookmarked, I do <Alt+F3> name-of-bookmark
<enter>, and the appropriate site opens in a new tab.

I just don't get why you'd want to open a blank tab.  What's the use of
that?  I know Firefox does that, but I always thought that was kind of
silly.


--
Michael M. ++ Portland, OR ++ USA
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions
of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to
dream." --S. Jackson

Your use seems to be atypical of users that use many other browsers and don't have the deskbar-applet loaded. A new tab is opened, often, to browse to another site without having to leave the old site. This way you can go back and forth. I often do this when I want to look for things in several search engines.

On your other note, opening a blank tab is the de facto behavior for browsers. A side effect of this behavior in epiphany is, most importantly, is to have the location bar selected by default and ready to take input. However, for me at least, loading a homepage in every tab breaks the flow of how I work. It attempts to change my behavior. I sometimes get distracted by the loading page and forget where I want to go.

Given the wide variety of uses, however, it should at least be an option that can, at the minimum, be toggled on and off. Toggle on and you get your homepage in every new tab. Toggle off and you get a blank tab with the location bar ready to accept input right away, without any additional clicking or button presses.